4 Years Earlier (18 BBY)
Ord Mantell System; Jarik POV...
The Slicer. That's what they used to call me, way back during what already feels like forever ago, during the Clone Wars. I was The Slicer, great Jedi Commander and heroic warrior apprenticed to the Negotiator.
Now, I am still called The Slicer, however now it has a completely different meaning. Instead of being the holonet given name of a war hero, it is now the name of a traitor and enemy of all the free citizens living in the galaxy. A terrorist who craves violence and death.
Yeah, Imperial propaganda is some wonderful stuff to read on, if you're able to read one of their articles. Actually that's all you can read if you are one of the average, low ranking people of the Galactic Empire under Palpatine's reign. Propaganda that spouts wonderful and amazing things about the Empire and its need to bravely protect and serve the people, when that couldn't be any further from the truth. It was absolutely sickening. I almost let R5 angrily destroy and blow up a small post office that displayed a poster of him with a bunch of lies, only keeping him at bay because it would draw attention, and I didn't want to have to flee from the planet right now.
Staying hidden from Stormtroopers, Inquisitors or worse was hard enough already. I've already run into two weak Inquisitors, who I escaped easily, but set worse enemies on my path immediately. I also no longer wore my Jedi robes, as that was a dead giveaway of who I really was, but I still wore a black cloak and hood to stay cautious. Of course even that was a little risky, because common sense has you wonder when a cloaked figure is ever not suspicious.
I then accidentally bumped into someone walking by, stumbling slightly.
"Hey, you just watch yourself!" the guy I bumped into threatened angrily, jabbing a finger at me. Beside him an Aqualish male said a few words I couldn't understand, although he seemed angry as well. I was momentarily stunned by the grotesque face the guy I bumped into had, looking recently scarred and cut violently before I responded.
"Sorry, my mistake, won't happen again," I said briskly, walking away from the violent pair.
"It better not!" the man yelled at my retreating form, and I rolled my eyes in annoyance. Criminal scum, absolutely revolting with how many forms they come in. Oh what has the galaxy come to?
Anyways, I was here for a reason, and part of it was on my mission to locate Ahsoka, or if possible uncover information for Senator Organa's small but slowly growing rebellion of trusted allies. Now, searching for Ahsoka on Ord Mantell may seem strange and very unlikely, and it isn't because I'm searching for Ahsoka, rather it's about the possibility of any information that might direct me to her. R5 was waiting in my ship, keeping it secured from anyone who might try to take it, as well as being on standby for any information I uncover and send him to analyze.
In the last few months before the Empire's takeover, the criminal group known as the Shadow Collective had fought a battle here with the Separatists, capturing Dooku and Grievous, much to my surprise when I learned that last week. And since Maul was the person who ruled the Shadow Collective, any knowledge about them could tie in with a clue to what happened to Ahsoka when Order 66 occurred on Mandalore. It was the best lead I had so far, considering it's only been 5 months since I parted ways with Obi-Wan and Master Yoda.
Searching the crowded street, I continued to walk along before spotting my target: a human male wearing customized armor. It was detailed so that it wouldn't stand out at all when in public areas, but I could recognize it as being similar to Mandalorian armor. That of the Death Watch, and this guy had to be a part of them. His armor has faded red colors, so they definitely weren't a part of Bo-Katan's group, since red armor was used by the ones who followed Maul. I watched him walk down the street before following discretely after he was a good enough distance away.
He traveled down the street, glancing around before slipping down a side alley, which was most likely his hideout or something. Whatever, time to interrogate a criminal.
I glanced around at the different people walking through the street, spotting a small patrol of Stormtroopers before crossing the road to the other side. Once there, I slipped into a small alleyway and made sure I was clear of any potential witnesses. I then leaped up with the Force to the middle of the building height on my right, landing on the windowsill, which I made sure nobody was inside to see me. Pulling out my lightsaber, I activated it quickly and stabbed the window lock before quickly deactivating it, pulling the window open. I crawled inside before shutting it with the Force, glancing around to make sure nobody was nearby.
"R5, I'm in. Get me a scan of this building," I order quietly.
He beeps in response and a few moments later, a 3D hologram of the dingy apartment complex appears on my comlink, showing the layout of the building. I zoomed in on it, searching around the ground floor for the Mandalorian, and spotted him in the elevator shaft, heading up to the third level. Smiling to myself, I exited the small room I was in and rushed through the hallways to the stairwell, opening the door. I was on the 5th level, so I leaped over the railing and fell down the small shaft, reaching out with my left arm to grab onto the wall, flipping myself in front of the door for floor three. I pulled up the hologram again and saw him exit the elevator, heading for room 327.
Exiting the stairwell, I followed his progress with the map, and once he entered his room, I made my move. Closing down the hologram and deactivting the door, I walked up to room 327 and knocked.
"Housekeeping!" I called in a humorously shrill voice.
I could sense his bewilderment, irritation and most importantly, suspicion as he walked over to the door slowly. Most likely a blaster in his hand. He slowly opened the door, and I gave him just enough time to peek out at me before I punched the door with my mechanical arm, the extra strength knocking the door aside at astonishing speed. He goes flying back into the room, and I rush inside the apartment, leaping into the air and bringing both of my fists down onto his unprotected head, his helmet left in the corner.
The effect is instant, and he gets knocked unconscious. I stand up, wincing slightly as I roll and flex my left arm.
"Oh, good plan but now my arm needs fixing," I mutter in irritation, not looking forward to having R5 check it out. He takes every opportunity to discretely shock me while doing so, and I've given up trying to get him to stop. What a punk. Imagine if he and Revan's droid, HK-47 met each other. That's a nightare worse than Darth Sidious.
It took a few minutes for the guy to wake up, and he did so groggily, blinking his eyes in confusion. I had already tied him up in the desk chair, and removed any weapons he could've had on him. He had a lot, considering his Mandalorian status, unsurprisingly. He tries to move his hands, and upon realizing they were cuffed, he looks up angrily.
"What's going on? What is this?" he demands.
"An interrogation," I said simply, leaning back in another swiveling chair nearby.
He gazes at me with narrowed eyes. "Who are you?" he asks.
In response, I pull down my hood. My hair had gotten a little bit longer, since I had let it grow out ever since becoming Knighted. For one, it helped to change my looks over time, making me harder to identify, and two: I think it looks cool. Master Qui-Gon certainly looked like a pro with long hair, although I probably won't go that long.
He widens his eyes before glowering angrily at me. "Chakaaryc! Demagolka!" he seethes angrily in Mando'a.
I roll my eyes in exasperation, not at all surprised by him spewing curses that I could not understand at me. Honestly, you'd think these guys would have something better to do than furiously hate a guy for the actions of his very, very long dead ancestor who lived more than 3000 years ago.
"Oh my Force will you shut up already?" I exclaim. "I don't care for your stupid insults, or your retarded hatred of me just because I'm related to Revan. How about we get on with it alright" I say sarcastically.
"And what would a slimy di'kut want from me?" he sneers.
"What I want to know, is what happened during the Siege of Mandalore when Order 66 occurred." I ask him calmly.
"Why?" he demands angrily. "What's it to you?"
"I'm looking for a friend, and I would like to know what happened when the clones turned on the Jedi. Also, how did Maul escape?" I demand.
He laughs mockingly. "You'll get nothing out of me!" he declares, spitting at my face. I lean out of the way, cringing in disgust before whipping back around to face him with a bewildered expression.
"You sir are disgusting." I comment.
"A whole planet of duse would be less disgusting than you!" he shouts.
I stand up suddenly, fed up with this guy and whip my lightsaber into his face, placing the blade emitter directly onto his forward, he stills instantly, glaring up at me with murderous eyes.
"Since you won't go the easy way, perhaps a Mandalorian would respond to a show of force?" I suggest, my voice dangerously calm.
He grins up at me. "You wouldn't dare kill a defenseless man Jetii," he declares smugly. I remain silent for a few moments before removing my lightsaber from his head, backing up slightly.
"You're right, I wouldn't kill a defenseless man," I say in agreement, and he smirks at me. I suddenly activate my lightsaber and swing it, scratching his arm. He shouts in pain, the flesh burning. It's a fairly easy wound to heal, but that doesn't mean it won't hurt.
"Jedi Code never said I couldn't hurt you a little bit," I remark casually, deactivating the lightsaber.
"You're crazy!" he yells.
"No, I'm just a simple, emotional teenager who is hunting for his girlfriend," I remark sarcastically with a roll of my eyes. "You gonna talk yet?"
"Never!" he spits out.
I sigh in disappointment, placing my lightsaber back on my belt. "Fine. Then I go the very difficult way," I say in resignation.
Closing my eyes, I reach my hand out towards his face and call upon the Force, pressing it down on the man's mind, basically in a more intense version of the Jedi mindtrick. He starts to hiss in pain, his head turning slightly red from the pressure, but still he doesn't give in. Focusing harder, I press down on his mind, searching for memories of the Siege of Mandalore, and he begins to yell in agony out before falling unconscious. I retract my hand, breathing heavily, but I got what knowledge he had of the incident. I never tried that before, and found I didn't like doing things that way with other people, but it all turned out okay in the end. I may not be as gifted in the Force as Ahsoka, but I had gotten a lot stronger ever since I became a Padawan.
Activating my lightsaber, I slice through his restraints, freeing him as he lays in the chair. No need for me to bother with him, and by the time he undoubtedly tries to inform the Imperials about my presence here for some sort of reward or satisfaction from my capture, me and R5 would be long gone.
"Get the ship ready R5, I've got what I needed," I tell him through the comlink.
Me and R5 had already blasted past the checkpoints in the city, home free to leave Ord Mantell by the time R5 picked up radio chatter concerning reports of a Jedi, beeping over at me accusingly. I shrugged in response.
"Hey, we're already gone, relax. I know where we're going next," I reassured the astromech.
Beeping disbelievingly, he swiveled around towards the back of our small ship, however beeping over to me snarkily beforehand, saying that my arm needed to be checked out. I groaned, not looking forward to the checkup, much to his amusement, before inputting the coordinates to our next location, where some sort of clue relating to Ahsoka was buried in the ground.
We were headed back to Mandalore.
The ship landed in the hanger of the Jedi Temple, and the door opened, which gave the young toddler, and newly discovered Force wielder Jarik Shan a good view of the place. He took everything in with wide eyes, and the Jedi Knight that found him brought him over to another nearby ship, which had just landed. The ramp lowered to reveal Jedi Master Plo Koon with a young Togrutan girl the same age as Jarik.
The two Jedi exchanged greetings and spoke with each other, while the younglings moved nervously up to each other, curious, yet hesitant and nervous about meeting new people.
"Hi, I'm Jarik. Who are you?" he asks the girl shyly with wide, innocent eyes.
"I'm Ahsoka," she replies timidly.
Deep in my memories and asleep, I let out a small, longing smile as I remembered the first time I had ever met Ahsoka. Back when everything was fun, with no war, no chaos, no Sith. Just our youngling clan and the anxiety of possible pranks
I bet you guys can all guess where this is going huh? Yeah!
Mando'a Translations:
chakaaryc - rotten; low-life; generic adjective to describe an undesirable person of dubious ethics
demagolka - someone who commits atrocties; a real-life monster; a war criminal
duse - rubbish; waste; unclean things
Jetii - Jedi
di'kut - idiot, useless individual, waste of space